And so it begins again…

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Dimona
07 Feb 2008
Israel
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It started as a small change in the tone of conversation in the office.

I had my head down so I barely noticed the shift from boisterous, animated conversation to the more subdued murmur of concern. Several people were gathered near someone’s desk looking over their shoulder at the computer screen.

A woman walked past and, by chance, caught a whispered word; “Dimona?”

I took notice that she turned on her heel and was now walking briskly back to her desk… dialing her cell phone as she walked… waiting… waiting… “Hello Ima, you’re home? Where’s Abba??

A pause… then she allowed herself to collapse into her chair with an exhaled, “Thank G-d

This was too familiar a routine, even though it hadn’t played here out in some time. I turned to face my computer and surfed over to one of the Israeli news sites. Sure enough, the headlines began:

Dimona suicide bombing attack

MDA treating casualties on the scene, say many wounded

by attack on Dimona commercial center…

I didn’t need to read more… I could probably write the rest of the coverage from memory, including the official duplicitous Palestinian denunciation and the official Israel blustering.

More groups of people gathered by computers… more people rushed away suddenly and more calls were hurriedly placed. The relief… the guilt at feeling relief… the quiet tears…

And so it begins again.

But as I tried to go back to work I found I couldn’t. The news held no answers… nothing but sorrow and speculation. I have always been one of those people who can make a little order from chaos… so long as I can sit down and make a list. Some might call it stream of consciousness, but I have found that when overwhelmed by a situation it sometimes helps to simply review things one knows… and let it lead you to what you believe.

So instead of looking outward for answers, I spent my lunch break contemplating a list of things I did know. Just the previous day I had written such a list in an attempt to quantify who I am and where I stand in these tumultuous times… and it began like this:

By all indications, this may be a season of list-making for me.

And so it beings again…


David Bogner, formerly of Fairfield, CT, lives in Efrat with his wife Zahava (nee Cheryl Pomeranz), and their children Ariella, Gilad and Yonah. Since moving to Israel in 2003 David has been working in Israel’s defense industry on International Marketing and Business Development. In his free time David keeps a blog (www.treppenwitz.com) and is an amateur beekeeper.

The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.